Method and apparatus for displaying a window for a user interface

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses to display windows. In more than one embodiments of the invention, a window is closed automatically (e.g., after a timer expires, or when a condition or criterion is met, or a system input is received) without user input. In some examples, the window is translucent so that the portion of another window, when present, is visible under the window. In some examples, the image of the window is faded out before the window is closed and destroyed. In some examples, the window does not close in response to any input from a user input device. In some examples, the window is repositioned (or hidden) automatically when another translucent window is displayed. The degree of translucency, the speed for fading out, the discrete levels of translucency for fading out, the time to expire, and/or other parameters for controlling the display of the window may be set by the user or adjusted by the system (or application software programs) automatically according to system conditions or other criteria.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/193,573, filed on Jul. 10, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,566.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to graphical user interfaces, and moreparticularly to such interfaces with windows.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. Copyright Apple Computer, Inc., 2002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many digital processing systems use window-based graphical userinterfaces for users to interact with software programs. Images ofwindows are displayed on a display device to show the user the states ofthe software programs; and user input devices (e.g., a keyboard and amouse) are used to accept user inputs. In addition to user inputdevices, a digital processing system may have other devices (e.g.,sensors) for accepting system inputs, such as phone line status, powersupply status, storage disk usage status, communication connectionstatus, execution status of software programs, and others that are notdirectly related to user inputs (signals associated with user inputdevices).

FIGS. 2-6 illustrate examples of traditional windows. FIG. 2 shows atypical window 210 that has title bar 203 and buttons 205, 207 and 209for minimizing, maximizing, and closing the window. The title bar andthe buttons on the title bar can be used to manipulating the positionand size of the window. For example, title bar 203 may be clicked (e.g.,pressing a button of a mouse while the cursor is on the title bar) tobring the window to the top level of the window displaying hierarchy sothat if there are any other windows displayed at the same location ofwindow 210, these windows will be hidden under window 210.

When a user starts an application program, a window (e.g., window 201)may be displayed to show the license/copyright information while thecomponents of the software program are being loaded. After thecomponents of the software program are fully loaded, thelicense/copyright window is closed automatically so that the user canstart to use the software program without interference from thelicense/copyright window.

FIG. 3 shows task bar 211 with flash help window 213. When the userpauses cursor 215 at a location of the task bar for a short period oftime, flash help window 213 appears. If the user does not move thecursor for another short period of time while window 213 is displayed,flash window 213, disappears. If the user moves cursor 215 slightly(e.g., using a mouse, a track ball, or a touch pad) and pauses thecursor 215 again, flash help window may appear again.

FIGS. 4-6 show a window that displays the progress of copying a file.When a file is copied from one location to another location, window 221is displayed to indicate the progress. Button 227 is provided forcanceling the copy operation; and button 225 is for closing the progresswindow. The progress of the operation is indicated by progress bar 229and an animation showing that the document is going from one folder toanother. Windows 221 and 231 in FIGS. 4 and 5 show two snap shots of theanimation. A user may drag title bar 223 (e.g., pressing down andholding a button of a mouse and moving the mouse while holding down thebutton) to drag the window from one location on a screen to another; andthe user can click on the title bar to bring the window to the top levelwhen the window is partially covered by another window (e.g., whenwindow 241 is partially covered by window 243, as shown in FIG. 6). Whenthe copy operation completes, the progress window closes automatically.

Traditional windows typically provide strong user interactions, whichmay cause distractions. For example, a user waits for window 201 todisappear to view window 210 in FIG. 2; the user manipulates a cursorcontrol device (e.g., a mouse, a track ball, or a touch pad) to view ordismiss flash help window 213 in FIG. 3; and, the user interaction isprovided to relocate the progress window or change the window displayinghierarchy to see the progress of window 241 in FIG. 6.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods and apparatuses to display windows are described here. There aremany different embodiments which are described here. Some of theseembodiments are summarized in this section.

In more than one embodiment of the invention, a window is closedautomatically (e.g., after a timer expires, or when a condition orcriterion is met, or system input is received) without user input. Insome examples, the window is translucent so that the portion of anotherwindow, when present, is visible under the window. In some examples, theimage of the window is faded out before the window is closed anddestroyed. In a further example, the level of translucency, the speedfor fading out, the discrete levels of translucency for fading out, thetime to expire, and/or other parameters for controlling the display ofthe window may be set by the user or adjusted by the system (orapplication software programs) automatically according to systemconditions or other criteria.

In one embodiment of the invention, a method to display a user interfacewindow for a digital processing system includes: displaying a firstwindow in response to receiving a first input from a user input device(e.g., a keyboard, mouse, track ball, touch pad, touch screen, joystick, button, or others) of the digital processing system which iscapable of displaying at least a portion of a second window under thefirst window; starting a timer; and closing the first window in responseto a determination that the timer expired. The first window does notclose in response to any input from a user input device of the digitalprocessing system. In one example according to this embodiment, thefirst window is translucent; the portion of the second window is visiblewhile under the first window; and the first window is at a top level ina window displaying hierarchy. In one example, an image of the firstwindow is faded out on the screen before the first window is destroyedto close the first window. In one example, the second window, ifdisplayed, closes in response to an input from a user input device ofthe digital processing system; and the first window does not respond toany input from a user input device of the digital processing system. Inone example, the first window is repositioned in response to a thirdwindow (e.g., an alert window or a translucent window) being displayed;in another example, the first window is hidden in response to a thirdwindow being displayed at a location where the first window isdisplayed. In one example, the first window is repositioned on a displayin response to a second input for the first window (e.g., an inputindicating that a third window is displayed, or an input from a userinput device of the digital processing system to reposition the window,such as dragging and dropping the window); and a position of the firstwindow in a window displaying hierarchy can be adjusted in response to athird input (e.g., bringing another window in front of the firstwindow). In one example, the first window is displayed at a position ona display of the digital processing system that is independent of aposition of a cursor on the display (e.g., a position centeredhorizontally on the display); and the timer is restarted in response toreceiving a second input for the first window (e.g., from a user inputdevice of the digital processing system).

In another embodiment of the invention, a method to display a userinterface window for a digital processing system includes: displaying afirst translucent window such that if a portion of a second window isdisplayed on the digital processing system under the first window, theportion of the second window is visible under the first window; andclosing the first window without user input. In one example according tothis embodiment, a timer is started so that when the timer expires thefirst window is closed (e.g., fading out an image of the first windowand destroy the first window). In another example, the first window isclosed in response to an input that is not associated with a user inputdevice of the digital processing system. In a further example, the firstwindow is closed in response to a determination that a system conditionis met (e.g., a system status is changed, or other criteria).

In a further embodiment of the invention, a method to display a userinterface window for a digital processing system includes: displaying afirst window in response to receiving a first input that is notassociated with a user input device of the digital processing system;starting a timer; and closing the first window in response to adetermination that the timer expired (e.g., fading out an image of thefirst window; and destroying the first window). In one example, thefirst window does not close in response to any input from a user inputdevice of the digital processing system (e.g., the first window does notrespond to any input from a user input device of the digital processingsystem); and the first window is translucent such that a portion of asecond window is visible when displayed under the first window. In oneexample, the first window is repositioned on a display without userinput (e.g., in response to a third window being displayed). In anotherexample, the timer is restarted in response to receiving a second inputfor the first window; and the second input is received from a user inputdevice of the digital processing system.

The present invention includes apparatuses which perform these methods,including data processing systems which perform these methods andcomputer readable media which when executed on data processing systemscause the systems to perform these methods.

Other features of the present invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereferences indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram example of a data processing system whichmay be used with the present invention.

FIGS. 2-6 illustrate examples of traditional windows.

FIGS. 7-11 illustrate example scenarios of displaying a window accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of a method to display a window accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of a method to close a window according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 shows a detailed flow diagram of a method to control atranslucent window according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows a method to display a translucent window according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 16-21 show example screen images of windows displayed according toone embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative of the inventionand are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Numerous specificdetails are described to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. However, in certain instances, well known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description ofthe present invention.

Many of the methods of the present invention may be performed with adigital processing system, such as a conventional, general purposecomputer system. Special purpose computers which are designed orprogrammed to perform only one function may also be used.

FIG. 1 shows one example of a typical computer system which may be usedwith the present invention. Note that while FIG. 1 illustrates variouscomponents of a computer system, it is not intended to represent anyparticular architecture or manner of interconnecting the components assuch details are not germane to the present invention. It will also beappreciated that network computers and other data processing systemswhich have fewer components or perhaps more components may also be usedwith the present invention. The computer system of FIG. 1 may, forexample, be an Apple Macintosh computer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the computer system 101, which is a form of a dataprocessing system, includes a bus 102 which is coupled to amicroprocessor 103 and a ROM 107 and volatile RAM 105 and a non-volatilememory 106. The microprocessor 103, which may be, for example, a G3 orG4 microprocessor from Motorola, Inc. or IBM is coupled to cache memory104 as shown in the example of FIG. 1. The bus 102 interconnects thesevarious components together and also interconnects these components 103,107, 105, and 106 to a display controller and display device 108 and toperipheral devices such as input/output (I/O) devices which may be mice,keyboards, modems, network interfaces, printers, scanners, video camerasand other devices which are well known in the art. Typically, theinput/output devices 110 are coupled to the system through input/outputcontrollers 109. The volatile RAM 105 is typically implemented asdynamic RAM (DRAM) which requires power continually in order to refreshor maintain the data in the memory. The non-volatile memory 106 istypically a magnetic hard drive or a magnetic optical drive or anoptical drive or a DVD RAM or other type of memory systems whichmaintain data even after power is removed from the system. Typically,the non-volatile memory will also be a random access memory althoughthis is not required. While FIG. 1 shows that the non-volatile memory isa local device coupled directly to the rest of the components in thedata processing system, it will be appreciated that the presentinvention may utilize a non-volatile memory which is remote from thesystem, such as a network storage device which is coupled to the dataprocessing system through a network interface such as a modem orEthernet interface. The bus 102 may include one or more buses connectedto each other through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters as iswell known in the art. In one embodiment the I/O controller 109 includesa USB (Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals,and/or an IEEE-1394 bus adapter for controlling IEEE-1394 peripherals.

It will be apparent from this description that aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied, at least in part, in software. That is, thetechniques may be carried out in a computer system or other dataprocessing system in response to its processor, such as amicroprocessor, executing sequences of instructions contained in amemory, such as ROM 107, volatile RAM 105, non-volatile memory 106,cache 104 or a remote storage device. In various embodiments, hardwiredcircuitry may be used in combination with software instructions toimplement the present invention. Thus, the techniques are not limited toany specific combination of hardware circuitry and software nor to anyparticular source for the instructions executed by the data processingsystem. In addition, throughout this description, various functions andoperations are described as being performed by or caused by softwarecode to simplify description. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize what is meant by such expressions is that the functions resultfrom execution of the code by a processor, such as the microprocessor103.

A machine readable media can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods of the present invention. This executable software anddata may be stored in various places including for example ROM 107,volatile RAM 105, non-volatile memory 106 and/or cache 104 as shown inFIG. 1. Portions of this software and/or data may be stored in any oneof these storage devices.

Thus, a machine readable media includes any mechanism that provides(i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a form accessible by amachine (e.g., a computer, network device, personal digital assistant,manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one or more processors,etc.). For example, a machine readable media includesrecordable/non-recordable media (e.g., read only memory (ROM); randomaccess memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media;flash memory devices; etc.), as well as electrical, optical, acousticalor other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infraredsignals, digital signals, etc.); etc.

At least one embodiment of the present invention seeks to display awindow with reduced distractions so that a user can focus on moreimportant windows.

FIGS. 7-11 illustrate example scenarios of displaying a window accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. Traditional window 303 isshown in FIG. 7. Window 303 contains control buttons 311, 313 and 315for closing, minimizing and maximizing the window. Window 303 also hastitle bar 310, which may be used to relocate the window on screen 301.Consider a scenario where the battery power of the system is lower thana threshold. After the system detects such a system status change,window 321 may be displayed near the center of screen 301, as shown inFIG. 8. Window 321 is translucent so that regular window 303 is stillvisible under window 321. Once window 321 is displayed on the screen, atimer is started to control the closing of the window. When the timerexpires, window 321 is automatically closed without any user input.Thus, window 321 displays the message of low battery power to the userwithout forcing the user to provide inputs to dismiss the messagewindow. Since window 321 is translucent and transient, the portion ofwindow 303 that is under window 321 is still visible. Thus, the user cancontinue working with window 303 (or other window) without having toprovide additional input to get message window 321 out of the way.

In one embodiment of the present invention, translucent window 321 isalways displayed at the top level of the window displaying hierarchy sothat the translucent window is always visible when displayed. Thiseliminates the need for the user to change the window displayinghierarchy to bring up the translucent window when another traditionalwindow is brought up to the top of the window displaying hierarchy(e.g., by creating a new window or accidentally changing the hierarchy).In another embodiment of the present invention, the user can change theposition of the translucent window in the hierarchy so that if the userdesires the translucent window may be sent to a background position.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the image of window 321 isfaded out when the timer expires, which is illustrated by the images ofwindows 321, 331, and 341 in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. After the image ofwindow 321 is faded out, window 321 is destroyed.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a translucent messagewindow starts to fade out when a status change is detected. For example,a message window is displayed when the system detects the ringing signalon a phone line. When the system detects that the ringing signal is nolonger present on the phone line, the image of the message window isfaded out; and the message window is destroyed. Similarly, a translucentprogress window for showing the progress of copying a file can be fadedout and destroyed after the copy process ends. In one example, messagewindow 361 as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed when a new message arrives.When the user starts to open an application to view the new message,message window 361 is closed automatically so that the user does nothave to provide input to dismiss the message window or wait for themessage window to fade out.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the image of window 321gradually sets in when the window is first displayed. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, window 321 in FIG. 8 isautomatically relocated or moved (e.g., in an animation fashion) to adifferent location so that the image of window 321 does not obscure thedisplay of any particular portion of windows 303 for an extended periodof timed. For example, window 321 may be automatically moved across thescreen horizontally from the left hand side of screen 301 to the righthand side of screen 301 (or near the center of screen 321 in a circularmotion).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the system detects (ormanages) all the translucent windows so that when a second translucentwindow is displayed before the first translucent window is closed, thefirst translucent window is repositioned so that the second translucentwindow can be easily seen on the screen without interference with eachother. For example, after battery low window 321 is displayed as in FIG.8, the system may detect a new message arrived for the user. Thus,translucent window 361 is displayed as in FIG. 11 to inform the userabout the new message. At the same time, window 351 is automaticallymoved to a position as seen in FIG. 11 so that both translucent windows351 and 361 can be easily seen on the screen. Alternatively, the firsttranslucent window (e.g., window 351) is hidden so that only the secondwindow (e.g., window 361) is displayed. The timer of the first window isstopped while being hidden until the second window is automaticallyclosed. In a further embodiment of the present invention, the windowsystem tracks the translucent windows to automatically schedule thesequence and the screen positions of the display of the translucentwindows according to the importance of the windows, the time to close(or estimated time to close), and/or other conditions.

FIGS. 8-11 show an example of translucent windows that are initiated bya system without any input associated with user input devices (e.g., akeyboard, mouse, track ball, touch pad, touch screen, joy stick, button,or other criteria). In one embodiment of the present invention, thesetranslucent windows do not consume any user input; and no user input canbe provided to these windows to close these windows, which closeautomatically when certain conditions are met (e.g., the expiration of atimer, the change in system status, and others). In one alternativeembodiment of the present invention, these windows accept predeterminedinputs (e.g., special function keys, such as the escape key “ESC” forclosing) so that a user has the option to directly control the displayof these translucent windows.

A user may initiate a translucent window through an input associatedwith a user input device. For example, a user may use a special functionkey to adjust volume (or contrast, or brightness). In response to thespecial function key, a translucent window is displayed to show thecurrent volume level (or contrast, or brightness). In one embodiment ofthe present invention, the window system (or an application program)automatically determines a location for displaying the translucentvolume window (e.g., independent from the location of a cursor on thescreen). When the volume window receives an input from the function keyfor adjust volume, the timer for the translucent volume window isrestarted. After the user stops adjusting the volume for a predeterminedamount of time, the timer expires; and the volume control window isfaded out and closed automatically. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the volume window is not translucent. In one embodiment ofthe present invention, the translucent window initiated by an inputassociated with a user input device does not close in response to anyinput from a user input device (e.g., the window does not have a buttonfor closing the window, nor takes a short cut key for closing thewindow); the window closes only automatically. When the window does notclose in response to any input from a user input device, the window maystill respond to system inputs, such as a request from the operatingsystem to close the window (e.g., when the user starts to shut down acomputer system). In one embodiment of the present invention, a messagewindow initiated by a user only displays a message to the user withoutconsuming any input from user input devices.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when a translucent windowaccepts user input, the translucent window consumes only predeterminedinputs for user input devices; other inputs are forwarded to normalwindows as if the translucent window does not exist. For example, if acursor related event (e.g., a click) is not accepted by the translucentwindow, the input is considered for the window that is just under thetranslucent window so that the user can interact with the window underthe translucent window as if the translucent window does not exist. Ifthe translucent window does not consume a keyboard input, the keyboardinput is forwarded to the window that has the keyboard focus (which istypically indicated by a highlighted title bar). Thus, the presence ofthe translucent window has minimum distractions for the user working onregular windows.

FIGS. 7-11 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention withtranslucent windows. It is apparent to one skilled in the art from thisdescription that some methods of the present invention can beimplemented for windows that are not translucent.

FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of a method to display a window accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. Operation 401 displays auser interface window (e.g., a translucent window which when displayedon top of a portion of a second window allows the user to see theportion of the second window through the translucent window); andoperation 403 automatically closes the user interface window (e.g., fadeout an image of the window and destroy the window) without user input(e.g., after a timer expired, or after a determination that a systemstatus is changed or a condition is met, or after receiving input thatis not associated with any user input device).

FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of a method to close a window according toone embodiment of the present invention. Operation 411 displays a firstwindow in response to an input (e.g., an input from a user input device,or an input that is not associated with any user input device, such asan input trigged by a system event, a change in system status, ringingsignals on a phone line, or inputs initiated by the operating system).Operation 413 starts a timer. Operation 415 closes the first window whenthe timer expires (e.g., fade out an image of the first window anddestroy the first window).

FIG. 14 shows a detailed flow diagram of a method to control atranslucent window according to one embodiment of the present invention.After operation 421 receives an input (e.g., a user input from a userinput device, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a track ball, a touch pad, atouch screen, a joy sticker, a button, or others) from a digitalprocessing system, operation 423 displays a first translucent window ona display device (e.g., a LCD display, a CRT monitor, a touch screen, orothers) of the digital processing system (e.g., on top of a portion of asecond window), where the first window does not close in response to anyinput from a user input device of the digital processing system.Operation 425 starts a timer. When operation 427 determines that aninput (e.g., a user input or a system input) for the first window isreceived, operation 431 restarts the timer; and operation 433 processesthe input (alternatively, the timer may be stopped and restarted afterthe input is processed). When operation 429 determines that a secondtranslucent window is displayed, operation 435 repositions (or hides)the first translucent window. When one of a number of translucentwindows is closed, the remaining translucent window(s) may berepositioned (or displayed if hidden). Operation 437 closes the firsttranslucent window when the timer expires (e.g., by fading out an imageof the first window and destroying the first window).

FIG. 15 shows a method to display a translucent window according to oneembodiment of the present invention. Operation 441 combines the image ofa translucent window and the portion of the image of window under thetranslucent window to generate a combined image for the translucentwindow and the window under the translucent window. Operation 443displays the combined image on the screen for the translucent window andthe window under the translucent window. If operation 445 determinesthat the translucent window is updated or operation 447 determines thatthe window under the translucent window is updated, operation 441 isperformed to update the corresponding portion of the screen image. In abuffered window system, the images of the translucent window and thewindow under the translucent window are generated separately; and thewindow system combines the images of the windows to display thetranslucent window and the window under it. In a non-buffered windowsystem, the translucent window may generate the image of the translucentwindow on top of the other window using the image of the window underit. For example, the translucent window obtains the image of the windowunder it after the window under it draws on the frame buffer; then, thetranslucent window generates a combined image to update thecorresponding portion of the screen.

FIGS. 16-21 show example screen images of windows displayed according toone embodiment of the present invention. When a user starts to adjustthe volume level (e.g., pressing on a function key for increasing ordecreasing volume, or selecting an item from a system control menu witha cursor control device, such as a mouse or a touch pad), translucentvolume window 511 appears on screen 501. Since window 511 istranslucent, the portion of window 503 under window 511 is stillvisible. In one embodiment of the present invention, when window 511 isinitially loaded, the background of volume window 511 has a high degreeof transparency; and the content of window 511 has a low degree oftransparency (or no transparency). Therefore, the user can easily seethe content of window 511 when the user is supposed to focus on window511. As the user provides input to adjust the volume level, window 511remains in a state with a high degree of transparency for the backgroundand a low degree of transparency for the content. For example, when theuser decreases the volume level (e.g., pressing a function key, or anarray key), the volume level is decreased as indicated by window 521 inFIG. 17. When the user further decreases the volume level to mute thespeakers, window 531 changes an icon to indicate that the speakers aremuted, as shown in FIG. 18. When the user starts to adjust thebrightness of the monitor, translucent brightness window 541 appears, asshown in FIG. 19, while the volume window is hidden (or destroyed, orconverted into the brightness window by redrawing the icon and the levelbar). If the user stops providing input for the brightness window for anamount of time (e.g., a predetermined amount of time, a randomlyselected amount of time, a time period determined according to a systemcondition or other criteria, a time period calculated on the fly, or atime period specified by a user) window 541 starts to fade away and bedestroyed, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, when a translucent window starts to fade away, the degree oftransparency of the content in the translucent window is increased toallow the user to see better the window under the translucent window, asillustrated by window 551 in FIG. 20. Thus, the degree of transparencyof the window can be adjusted during the life cycle of the window tolead the focus point of the user. Further, a user may specify the degreeof transparency of the window (e.g., as a preference parameter). Theimage of the window may fade out smoothly in an animation; or the imageof the window may fade out in a number of discrete steps. The degree oftranslucency, the speed for fading out, the discrete levels oftranslucency for fading out, the time to expire, and/or other parametersfor controlling the display of the window may be set by the user oradjusted by the system (or application software programs) automaticallyaccording to system conditions or other criteria. For example, thesystem (or application programs) may adjust the time to expire accordingto the number of translucent windows displayed concurrently on thescreen; or the system (or an application program) may adjust the initialdegree of translucency according to the color pattern at the locationwhere the translucent window is displayed.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in thefollowing claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to display a system control interfacecomprising: displaying a graphical user interface; displaying a firstsystem control interface over the graphical user interface; displaying asecond system control interface over the first system control interface,wherein the first system control interface is hidden by the displayedsecond system control interface; starting a timer associated with thesecond system control interface; and removing the second system controlinterface when the timer expires, wherein displaying the first systemcontrol interface over the graphical interface occurs as a result of auser interacting with a user input device, wherein the input device isnot directly related to manipulating a window on the graphical userinterface.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first system controlinterface is adjusted to the second system control interface byinteracting with the user input device.
 3. The method of claim 1 whereinthe first system control interface comprises a window with a pluralityof bars.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first system controlinterface is removed by fading away the system control interface.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the first system control interface controlsvolume level or monitor brightness.
 6. A machine readable mediacontaining executable computer program instructions which when executedby a digital processing system cause said system to perform a method todisplay a system control interface comprising: displaying a graphicaluser interface; displaying a first system control interface over thegraphical user interface; starting a timer associated with the firstsystem control interface; displaying a second system control interfaceover the first system control interface, wherein the first systemcontrol interface is hidden by the displayed second system controlinterface; starting a timer associated with the second system controlinterface; pausing the timer associated with the first system controlinterface when the second system control interface is displayed over thefirst system control interface; and removing the second system controlinterface when the timer associated with the second system controlinterface expires.
 7. The machine readable media of claim 6 whereindisplaying the first system control interface over the graphicalinterface occurs as a result of a user interacting with a user inputdevice, wherein the input device is not directly related to manipulatinga window on the graphical user interface.
 8. The method of claim 6wherein the first system control interface is adjusted to the secondsystem control interface by interacting with a user input device.
 9. Themethod of claim 6 wherein the first system control interface comprises awindow with a plurality of bars.
 10. The method of claim 6 wherein thefirst system control interface is removed by fading away the systemcontrol interface.
 11. The method of claim 6 wherein the first systemcontrol interface controls volume level or monitor brightness.